Crimson Tear
by Necros348
Summary: Among the dark sands their paths cross. Where will fate lead them?
1. Shadow

A/N: It's nearly 4 a.m and I can't sleep so I thought I might as well get started on this fic. It is my first one so I hope you enjoy it.

This takes place during the two and a half year time skip.

By the way I do not own Naruto or any of the characters except the OCs, those are mine.

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Night had fallen over the Village Hidden in the Sand. Midnight had come and gone and the darkened streets were silent as death. A malevolent aura permeated the night air, yet it went unnoticed. One lone figure lurked in the shadows of an alley. _"I know they are here_,_ all I have to do is find them."_ His musing complete, he melted into the shadows of the night. The stage is now set and the wheels of fate have begun to turn.

The last mission had been a long one, and now all Temari wanted was a well-deserved night's sleep in her own bed. She made her way home alone. Kankuro and Gaara had gone ahead while she had stopped by the bathhouse to wash away the layer of sweat and blood (mostly someone else's) that she had accumulated over the last few days. Most people wouldn't dare to walk those streets so late alone. But, then again, Temari wasn't most people. She could more than hold her own in a fight and on top of that she was the daughter of the Fourth and sister of the Fifth Kazekage. Few people in the village were brave enough to even cross her path, so she was not afraid to relax her guard while walking the silent streets. Her sense of safety and her exhaustion had dulled her senses to the point that she did not feel the razor thin wire that wrapped around her wrists.

The next thing she knew, she was pinned against the wall of a dark alley by a pair of large hands. One was over her mouth, holding it shut, the other was around her throat, ready to snap her neck if she tried to escape. The strength of those hands was incredible. She tried to struggle but her arms and legs were bound tightly.

"Just relax" said a voice so cold Temari shivered at the sound of it, "You won't be going anywhere for a while. Now make sure she stays quiet Yodai."

"Right." said the man who was holding her. His voice was so deep it seemed to come from the earth itself.

"When do we get to kill her Kira?" said a third. This voice was frantic but dripping with malice and bloodlust.

"After I'm finished, Sho" the icy voice replied, "Besides, if we kill her now then we won't get to have any fun with her."

"All right" replied the manic voice, "Just don't take so long this time. I can't wait to cut her to pieces!"

"Don't worry; you'll get to have your fun" said the icy voice "Now then, let's get started, shall we?"

And so they began their unspeakable act, unaware that a shadowy figure watched from above.

_"I've finally found you."_ The shade thought as an unseen grin crept across his face.

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So what did you think? I would greatly appreciate any reviews. I apologise for how short it is but like I said it's almost 4 in the morniing. The next chapters will be longer, I promise.


	2. Figure

A/N: Well it's 3:30am and I still can't sleep so I decided to write this.

Well, here you go.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, do you think I'd spend my time writing these things?

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"Please, stop. Please, let me go."

She longed to cry out, to struggle, to do anything that might bring about an end to her suffering, but it was no use. The hands on her mouth and throat stifled any noise, and the cords around her wrists held fast. As she hung there, tears streaming down her face, can came to realize that all she could do was watch. Watch and pray.

"Come on, come on Kira! I want to cut her open, I want to make her bleed!" Shu hissed.

"I agree with Shu, Kira. You're taking too long, besides I'm getting hungry." Yodai grumbled in agreement.

"Relax you two, like I said you'll get your turn." Kira replied, "but only once I'm done. So just be patient Shu."

"I know, I know. I just wish you…"

"Just wish I what, Shu?" Kira asked, glancing at his comrade.

Shu was staring at his arm with a look of sheer terror on his face. It was as though his arm had become something so terrible that he could not speak out of shock.

"Get them off me, get them off me, get them off me!" He cried. The malice in his voice replaced by panic.

"Shut him up, Yodai!" Kira ordered.

Wordlessly, Yodai removed his hand from Temari's neck and clamped it firmly over Shu's mouth.

_"What the hell happened to him"_ Kira wondered. As he scanned Shu's writhing body he noticed something. A single thin needle lodged in his shoulder.

_"Oh crap."_

"Well it's about time you noticed." said a voice from the darkness, "It's sad that three ex-shinobi as infamous as yourselves would take so long to realize my presence."

"Who are you, and what the hell did you do to Shu?" demanded Kira.

"Who I am is not important. As to what I did to your little friend there, you see that needle in his shoulder is coated with an extremely potent hallucinogen, lysergic acid dithylamide to be precise. Also known as LSD, and let's just say that he's in for one hell of a bad trip."

"Damn you" Kira spat. "Yodai, gag her and then help me deal with our guest."

When Yodai went to move his hand, he found that Temari's head was no longer beneath it. Looking to see where she had gone he saw a figure lean Temari's stunned form against a wall a short distance away. The figure then slowly turned to face them. He blended in with the shadows so most of him could not be seen. From each arm there extended a thin foot-long blade, and where his face should have been, there was a mask. It was round and the eves were nothing more than narrow slits. It was blindingly white, like bleached bone, save for a thin red streak extending from the right eye to the bottom of the mask. The path it traced resembled that of a single tear of blood.

"Now then, I think I will tell you who I am." Said the figure, "I won't tell you my real name of course but will give you one that I think you're more familiar with."

The other two merely stood there, staring in disbelief at the man before them.

"Since I can see that you're staring at my mask, you probably already know who I am, but in case you don't let me make it inescapably clear. I go by the name of Strider, but most know me as the Crimson Tear Assassin."

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A/N: I know I said this chapter would be longer, but it seems that this is the most I can write at any one time. So while I can't promise that the next chapters will be longer, I can promise that they won't get shorter.

Thanks to **xXxKiki-chanxXx** and **feronia wings** for reviewing.

You read it, so you know what to do now. Please review.

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	3. Standoff

A/N; It's 4:30 am...I can't sleep...I think I have a problem...

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Naruto, and some sleeping pills, but I don't.

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"You're the Crimson Tear? You're just a kid! What makes you think that you can possibly beat us?" Kira growled.

"A valid question" replied Strider, "First, I know everything about you, your pasts, your strengths, and even your fighting styles are no secret to me. While conversely, you know nothing about me. Hell, you didn't even know who I was until a moment ago. Second, you have to operate silently so you don't alert the village to your presence, while I can make as much noise as I please. Finally, the only member of your group who can attack without creating an obscene amount of noise is currently in the middle of the worst acid trip of his life. So the way I see it, you have two options. You can stay and fight and let everyone know you're here, or you can retreat and live to see the sunrise. The choice is yours."

_"Damn, this arrogant little punk is really starting to piss me off."_ Kira thought_ "I know we can beat him if it came to that, but…"_

"Tick tock Kira, time's running out." Strider said mockingly, "The night won't last forever, you know."

"Yodai, get Shu, we're leaving."

"But Kira, you know we could easily tear him apart."

"I know that Yodai, but he's not the problem. Our problem will be getting out of here with the whole village in our way once we kill him."

"Well, what do you know, you're smarter than you look" Strider taunted.

"What did you just say, punk?" Kira snapped.

"You heard me." Said Strider calmly, "Anyway, if I were in your position I wouldn't be wasting my time arguing with the guy who's trying to kill me. I'd have already left."

"Come on Yodai, let's go."

"Right."

With that they picked up their tripped our comrade and vanished into the desert night.

Strider let out a sigh of relief, _"Thank goodness they didn't call my bluff. There's no way in hell I could have beaten them on my own."_

His musing done, he walked over to Temari and began to examine the injuries on her arms and legs.

_"These I could treat without much trouble, but that's about all I can do"_

"W-who are you?" Temari asked faintly, taking Strider by surprise.

"Oh you're conscious, that's good. You can call me Strider, and don't worry; I'm here to help you. Do you think you can walk?"

"I-I don't know."

"Alright then, I'll carry you." He said as he hoisted her onto his back "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're the Kazekage's older sister, aren't you?"

"Yes, my name is Temari, but how did you know who I was?"

"You're the only woman who could be at ease walking these streets alone at night. Now come on, let's get you home."

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Please review.


	4. Questions

A/N: Wow I actually managed to post at a relatively decent hour for once. Anyway, I would like to apologize to my readers (like I have any) I know my updates have been sporradic at best but my shcoolwork load has been insane so please bear with me. Now that that's out of the way, on to the new chapter.

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As Strider carried her, Temari was able to get a good look at her rescuer. He was dressed so that every inch of his skin was covered. He wore black leather gloves on his hands and a long black trench coat with a green shirt underneath. His hair was dark and was tied back into a thin whip-like braid with a kunai on the end. She noticed that she wasn't the only thing on his back. Besides her, he carried a large black case, but she couldn't tell what was inside. What struck her was the mask. The stark whiteness contrasting so harshly with the deep crimson of the "tear" created a truly intimidating appearance. _"What could he be hiding behind that mask?"_ She wondered "_What kind of person lies beneath it?"_ She continued looking him over until his voice brought her back to reality.

"Hey, Temari"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if we stop and rest for a minute?" He asked, with notes of exhaustion in his voice.

"We haven't gone all that far" she replied.

"I know" he said "It's just that I'm built for speed, not strength."

"Are you saying I'm heavy?" Temari growled.

"N-no it's not you that's heavy" he stammered "It's that giant metal fan of yours. It weighs a ton."

_"Good answer"_ she thought as he leaned her against the wall of an alley. He sat down across from her and leaned against the opposite wall.

"Hey, Strider was it?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"There's a few things I want to ask you" she said "If that's alright."

"That's fine" he replied "As long as you don't ask me to take off my mask, because I won't. Otherwise go ahead and ask away."

"Okay. First, how were you able to convince those three to retreat?"

"Oh you heard that huh?" He replied "Simple, it was a bluff."

"A bluff!?" She said shocked, "What if they saw through it?"

"Then we would've been screwed." He replied nonchalantly "But they never would have called my bluff. It's amazing how easy it is to lie to people when your face doesn't move. So what's your next question?"

_"This guy's insane!"_ She thought "Why do you wear those gloves? You're in the desert you know." She asked after a short pause.

"I wear these gloves to keep my hands from becoming stained with anymore blood" He replied.

"What do you mean 'more blood'?"

"Long ago I was responsible for the death of someone very close to me. Their death caused me to suffer a severe mental breakdown. I spent three days trying to scrub the nonexistent blood from my hands. Even now if I see so much as a drop of someone else's blood on my hands, I go into a state of catatonic shock. It's supposedly a mild form of schizophrenia, but I'm not sure. It's not like I can go see a doctor."

Temari just stared at him.

"So do you have any other questions?" Strider asked "If not then we should get moving."

"No, I don't have any more questions." Temari replied.

"Alright then" Strider said as he hoisted her onto his back "Let's go."

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A/N: For those of you who don't know, people who suffer from catatonic schizophrenia often enter a mentally detatched state. They become unable to move and tend to mimic what they hear. Now then, you read it so please review.


	5. Reception

Sorry it took so long for me to update. I had a lot of stuff going on, what with the holidays and exams and all that. You could say I got into some serious things...and then I forgot how it ended. Anyway, here's chapter five.

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Dawn was staining the horizon a deep red by the time they reached the Kazekage's residence. Strider was instantly unnerved by the conspicuous lack of security for such an important building.

"_This can't be good. Either the guards are so skilled at concealing their presence that I can't detect them, or that the shinobi are so terrified of Gaara that they refuse to be anywhere near him…I certainly hope that it's the former."_

His fears subsided when he was surrounded by nearly a dozen armed guards all with their swords and other pointed implements of death pointed at his throat. Each one poised to take his life in a manner best not described should he so much as breathe.

"Who are you?" one of the guards demanded "And what did you do to Temari?"

"Well" Strider replied in a clearly strained tone "I'd be happy to answer any question you may have if it weren't for the fact that I would probably end up with several unpleasantly sharp objects lodged in my throat. So, if you would just widen your little circle of death just the tiniest bit, then I'd be more than eager to oblige your inquiries regarding my identity and intentions" A few tense seconds passed and the guards kept their weapons pointed squarely at Strider's throat. "Okay it seems that I was talking to myself here" he said with a sigh, "I was hoping that it wouldn't come to this but it seems that I have no other option…"

"Lower your weapons!" a harsh voice rang out, and the guards instantly obeyed.

Strider turned from the guard he had been speaking towards the direction of the voice. Standing in the great doorway were Kankuro and Gaara. The former appeared slightly pissed off while the latter displayed no emotion whatsoever.

Gaara was the first to speak, issuing orders in his gravelly voice "Two of you carry Temari to her room; you, get a medic; the rest of you, return to your posts" the guards followed their orders without hesitation. After a few seconds, only Gaara, Kankuro, and Strider remained. "You," Gaara said, looking directly at Strider "You come with us."

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I know it was shorter that usual, and for that I apologise, but still let me know what you thought. Please review.

P.S. Thanks to , **xXxKiki-chanxXx**, and **Yondaime Mizukage** for reviewing.


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